Hair-treating implement



Nov. 11, 1952 J. GASPARI v HAIR-TREATING IMPLEMENT Filed Jan. 29, 1951 nmm M G M E w, J

Gttomeg Patented Nov. 11, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HAIR-TREATINGIMPLEMENT Joseph Gaspari, Philadelphia, Pa.

Application January 29, 1951, Serial No. 208,338

1 Claim.

The present invention relates to an implement particularly adapted forthe application of dye or other liquid to the hair of the scalp, and isespeciallydirected to a combination implement including a yieldablecontainer for the liquid, an applicator adapted to receive the liquidejected therefrom for transfer to the hair for dyeing or otherwise.subjecting it to treatment, a comb for arranging the hair to receive thetreatment and frictionjmeans which aid in controlling the speed oftravel of the applicator along the hair strands as well asthearrangement of the hair during the treatment.

The present trend in fashion is toward increasing popularity of homemethods of hair treatment and'availability of materials suitabletherefor but .it-ihas been found extremely difficult for a woman toapply dyeing solutions and the like to her own? hair with the rapidityand substantial uniformity essential to attainment of the mostattractive appearance of the hair after the operation has beencompleted, since for best results the strands of hair should besubstantially parallel when the liquid is applied and the latter shouldbe brushed into the hair as soon as possible thereafter. When separateimplements are employed the first for combing the hair to bring thestrands parallel, a second for applying the liquid and finally a -thirdfor brushing the liquid into the hair the inconvenience incident tochanging from one implement to another as well as the time required forsuch changes militates against most satisfactory results.

It is therefore a principal object of the invention to provide acombined implement which can readily be held in the hand and utilizedinitially for combing a portion of the hair to bring the strandsparallel to each other and then immediately operated to apply a suitablequantity of the treating'liquid to the strands and simultaneously tobrushthe liquid along them thereby materially enhancing its uniformapplication thereto.

A further object is to provide an implement of this character in whichthe portion used for combing out strands of hair prior to application ofthe liquid to them may also be utilized for retaining the strands inproper parallel relation during application and While the liquid isbeing brushed out along the strands themselves and also as an aid incontrolling the relative movement of the implement with respect to thehair and in maintaining the latter under the requisite tension.

Other objects, purposes and advantages of the invention will beunderstood or will more clearly appear from the following description ofa pre- 2 ferred embodiment of it illustrated in the accompanyingdrawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the implement,

1 Fig. 2 is a top view thereof,

Fig. 3 is a staggered vertical section on the line 33 in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on the line 4-4 in Fig. 3.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing, the illustratedimplement comprises a substantially cylindrical container l of a sizeadapted to be conveniently held in the hand and desirably made ofyielding material relatively inert to dyes and other hair treatingliquids, molded polyethylene or the like being preferred. The containerl at its upper end opposite its generally circular base has a coaxialthreaded neck 2 adapted for reception of a complementarily threaded capsection 3 of the implement head 4,

the cap section 3 of which may be integral with the main portion and allmade from a molded synthetic plastic composition such as Lucite or othersuitable material formed to provide along one edge a series of combteeth 5 projecting radially with respect to the cap section, the headalso supporting in substantially diametrically opposed relation to thecomb 5 an applicator brush generally designated 6 and comprising a backI from which project bristles 8 formed in tufts in the usual way. Theback 1 may be cemented or otherwise secured to the head 4 and isprovided with a plurality of fluid ports 9 extending through the back atabout the center of the group of bristle tufts, these ports beingadapted to conduct fluid to the bristles from the adjacent end of a ductll formed in the interior of the head. In the opposite end of this ductand extending therefrom through the cap section of the head there iscemented one end of a semi-rigid plastic tube [2 which projects beyondthe cap section into container I when the implement is assembled, beingcurved substantially in a plane par allel to those in which bristles 8project from the back 1 and in the same direction to bring its free endinto fairly close proximity to the container wall adjacent neck 2 sothat when the implement is in upright position the container affordscapacity for a substantial quantity of hair treating liquid below thefree end of the tube.

Preparatory to applying a liquid dye or the like to the hair with theaid of this implement container l is filled to about half its capacitywith the liquid and head 4 then secured in place thereon an annulargasket l3 preferably first being inserted in the cap section. With thecontainer used as a handle, comb 5 then is manipulated to lay the hairstrands in parallelism while the curvature of tube I2 away from the combmaintains its end above the liquid surface and prevents the escape ofliquid from the container through the tube. After the hair has beensufiiciently combed, the implement is turned over and brush 6 is now inposition for applying the liquid to the hair, the strands of which maybe concurrently held between the finger and one side of the head 4 toguide them into the spaces between adjacent teeth of the comb for afinal pass through the latter before reaching the brush, or the strandsmay be pressed lightly against the opposite side of the head 4 and thusguided directly into contact with the brush. Liquid from the containeris ejected during this operation by pressure of the fingers against thecontainer wall thereby forcing liquid from the container through tubel2, duct II and brush backports 9 to the roots of bristles 8 whence ittravels by capillary action along the bristles to the hair, subjectingeach strand to a substantially uniform application controlled as toquantity by the manually exerted pressure. Usually sufiicient liquid isapplied by a single pass of the brush along the hair strands and anyadditional brushing in that may be required may follow immediately,relaxation of the pressure on the container wall deterring further flowof liquid to the brush.

The sides of the head l are preferably contoured as shown in Fig. 2 toenable the operators finger tobe conveniently and comfortably appliedthereto for steadying and accurately controlling the implement as wellas for guiding the hairstrands to retain them in parallelism duringpassage of the brush thereover. If desired the hair, after preliminarycombing, may be looped about the head 4 so as to pass through the comband thence between the operators finger and the plane surface parallelto the brush bristles presented by either side of head 4 and thenceto-the brush, use of the implement in this mannerv affording additionalassurance of parallelism of'the strands as they pass to the brush fortreatment. In either case the pressure of the brush against the hair andthe tension of the latter asthe brush passes along it are easilyregulated consistently with the manual control of the quantity of liquidapplied.

It has been found that with the aid of this implement operationsincident to dyeing hair customarily requiring about 30 minutes may becarried out in approximately 8 minutes, with greatly enhanced uniformityand convenience in theapplication of the liquid to the hair and withoutchanging implements, the time elapsing between combing and theapplication of the treating liquid being substantially negligible andthe application and brushing out of the liquid being carried outsubstantially simultaneously or at least in immediate sequence with thesame implement, thereby rendering provision and use of a plurality ofimplements for home hair treatment unnecessary.

Since it will be apparent that the implement as herein specificallydescribed may be modified in various ways it will be understood I do notdesire or intend to limit or confine; myself specifically thereto asnumerous changes and modifications in the form, construction,arrangement and relationship of the parts will readily occur to thoseskilled in the art and may be utilized if desired without departing fromthe spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to protect byLetters Patent of the United States:

A hair treating implement comprising acontainer having a yieldablecylindrical liquid-confining wall, a removable head communicating withthe interior thereof and providing a duct, a brush carried by the headincluding a back and projecting bristles the back having a plurality ofports communicating with said duct for transmission of liquid from theduct to the bristles, a tube extending fromthe duct into the containerterminating adjacent the cylindrical wall thereof for conduction ofliquid from the interior of the container through the duct,-the headproviding friction means for guiding hair strands in relation to thebrush during'passage of the latter thereover and including a surfaceextending in a plane substantially parallel'to the brush bristles butremote therefrom and a plurality of substantially parallel comb teethstill more remote therefrom whereby strands of hair arranged inparallelism by passage of the comb teeth therethrough may befrictionally engaged between the operators fingerand said surface andheld in tension thereby during passage of the brush bristles thereoverto apply liquid supplied to the brush through said ports.

JOSEPH GASPARI.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

